Trickle-down strategy in need of change

Posted: Monday, September 08, 2008

John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate shows he is going to the Karl Rovian well, like George W. Bush did successfully, on the social issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.

This time, going that route, McCain and the Republican party might be going to the wedge issue well once too often.

It is evident the GOP has little interest in uniting the country. Four more years of divisiveness is not the change America wants and needs.

People from all walks of life throughout our country are hurting economically. Republicans don't get it; trickle-down economics is an abysmal failure both practically and morally. It doesn't work for the common good of all citizens. It does not narrow the ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots.

McCain has admitted he is not an expert on the economy. Palin may bring some positives and some charisma to McCain's campaign, but if their ticket wins the presidency, failing trickle-down economics will continue to run America's economic engine into the ground. What solutions will a McCain-Palin ticket offer to address poverty in our country? Will spending for bullets and bombs take priority over bread and butter in our national budget?

If McCain and Palin want to be genuine agents of change, they must abandon a governing from a top-down "survival of the fittest" philosophy, feel the pain of the hurting multitudes and offer a plan for governing from the bottom-up. Their wealthy supporters will still have much more than enough of life's luxuries.